Council Approves License Transfer, Doubles Video Lottery Machines at Watertown Location
- Steve Jurrens
- 6 hours ago
- 2 min read
Northeast Radio SD News - Watertown, SD - The Watertown City Council approved an application at its meeting tonight, allowing a local business, 4 Amigos LLC, to effectively double the number of video lottery machines at one of its locations by transferring an inactive license.
The council unanimously approved two related items (12A and 12B) concerning the transfer of licenses held by 4 Amigos LLC to a new, adjacent location: Cowboy #2 Liquors at 908 Fifth Street Southeast.
City Finance Officer Kristen Bobzien explained that the licenses were being moved from an inactive status at 312 9th Avenue Southeast to a second, new location at 908 Fifth Street Southeast. The key outcome of the transfer concerns state video lottery regulations.
“There are requirements that only 10 machines per location,” Bobzien stated. The new address effectively creates a second, compliant location right next to the existing business. This allows the company to add an extra set of 10 video lottery machines, bringing the total available machines at the connected properties to 20.
The two separate agenda items were required because the state requires two different sales tax licenses and distinct addresses to recognize the two separate locations for sales tax purposes.
Councilman Lynn Jurrens raised a question about the city’s role in ensuring compliance with location separation rules, particularly regarding ingress and egress.
Bobzien confirmed that the Community Development Division had inspected the site to verify that the location met all separation requirements. While the city does not enforce state requirements, Bobzien noted that local staff work with the license holder to ensure all state requirements are met before the state conducts its own review.
The council unanimously approved the transfer of the retail malt beverage and video lottery license (Item 12A) and the corresponding package liquor license (Item 12B).